New IRL bookclub is a fabulous group of smart & funny people. I am really looking forward to future book dissections, I mean discussions.

I “enjoyed” Conrad‘s novella for what it is/was in its time. The literary criticism from various writers included added food for thought. I argued with them via pencil. 😆

This is a pick for the importance of the subject matter - the crisis of crimes against indigenous women. #MMIW

There were aspects of the writing I found distracting, but that is a quibble that pales against the importance of raising awareness.

What a fantastic title page!

Fiction is the great lie telling the truth…

Spot on articulation for why writing & reading “fiction” is important. 👌🏾 I could listen to Verghese all day - so insightful & relaxing. Bet his medical students like him.

https://youtu.be/-zBo7Fl-iL8?si=NnX_laxXa1ScN5zb

What splendid evocative writing! The excerpt pictured is from page 1. I‘m only on chapter 6 and I am going to savor each and every one.

#OhCanada
@Jess861

This is a fun a race against the clock to solve a murder & save an innocent man from a public hanging! 🏇

Aside from some diversions about cricket, I really enjoyed the writing. Definitely anti-death penalty, Cornwell doesn‘t spare any of what is repulsive about it.

I notice Cornwell is (was?) prolific, but alas seems most of his books are war centered?

I think I‘ll be occupied in the kitchen this year. 😊👏🏾 Doesn‘t take much to make me happy.

Is there such a thing as exquisite pain? If so it‘s here in Toni‘s writing. The exchange between Nel & Sula after their estrangement wherein they compare their life choices & consequences is a knife to the heart. So poignant because both women are telling their truths, though so very different.💔

I have to spend more time thinking about this one. Sula is difficult to like for her narcissism & nihilism. I can though admire her self actualization.

Good writing, but relentlessly depressing. I can‘t finish now, but perhaps I‘ll come back some other time. It might also be the narrator‘s voice which is suitable to the tone of the novel. 🫤 Just not the right book at the moment.

Agree with @Ruthiella this one is a soft pick mainly because I didn‘t find the 16 year old Addie‘s novel entertaining. It would have been better had only excerpts been included. But, the comedy at the end had me laughing and guffawing out loud. High melodrama! #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

There is a twist in this novel that is slowly revealed to the reader, which was an element I enjoyed. Also, lots of food & nature descriptions. ❤️ Not sure about the ending; seemed a bit contrived and convenient.

So relatable! How many times have I asked where the day went because there is no accounting for it?

😆 I needn‘t have felt bad about bailing on this one. It was essentially a flop for the bookclub. Only two actually managed to read/listen to the whole thing.

Amazing this is a debut novel! It feels like a bit of a mashup between a traditional American Western & an organized crime novel, but set in contemporary rural NW England. As odd as it sounds, it works. Gritty and sometimes gruesome, yet there is also the natural beauty of the fells.

Thanks @Cathythoughts for your post. Had it not been for you I would have bypassed it because of the cover. 😜

I puzzled over Pamela walking in on the lawyer searching the “davenport” for valuable assets. 🤔 Why would he and how long could it take to poke through the cushions of a couch? 😆

In America “davenport” is an old fashioned word for couch/sofa, which my grandmother used and is the only reason I am familiar with it. Apparently in the UK a davenport is a writing desk. I would have recognized it as a “secretary.”

#FurrowedMiddleBrowClub

Ooofta - this little piece is slow going for all that‘s packed into it. I can only read a few pages at a time to absorb it.

This caused me to snort out loud! 😆 #Furrowedmiddlebrowclub

#Mtcookbook And that‘s a wrap! 66 recipes made from 43 cookbooks from my shelves in 2024. 😋

Last night was an adapted fried rice; I used the cashew chicken recipe from the tagged book and everyone loved it, excepting the vegetables according to my daughter. 😏

This was a fun challenge and thank you to all who indulged my posts!

I could not put this down! Whipple has an exceptional ability to convey the emotional lives of her characters with such realism. Not for a minute did any of it feel like fiction; it was like being a fly on the wall. That is until the end. I suspect had this novel been written today the end would be quite different. Still, a 5⭐️read!

This novel has the best description of a cozy happy family Xmas I‘ve ever encountered. Just picture perfect.

East of Eden was such a fun reading experience for all of the Easter eggs!

A Month in the Country was just as exquisite on reread, which we all know can be a risky endeavor.

Love this invitation! We all do this anyway, but by being actively conscious of it we can better appreciate the gifts we‘ve been given and those we give. We can even level up.

Kimmerer‘s writing is always lovely and this is no exception.

Excellent ecological & economic ethos to focus on in the new year: restraint, respect, reciprocity. We can each contribute in our own ways.

As you can see, plenty of insightful observations & wisdom offered here on behalf of Arendt. Highly relevant today, though I‘d be hard pressed to believe there would ever be a time when it isn‘t.

Freedom is in plurality. However, it requires relinquishing a degree of sovereignty. (Cliche freedom isn‘t free.)

I had to laugh when Stonebridge points out shouting “stupid” into the void of social media is not effective resistance. 😆

I caught a cold 😒, but I‘m thankful it was after the festivities. It‘s nap/reading time and this classic has been on my TBR forever. The impetus is a new bookclub starting up in January.

I love all the end of the year lists! Here is one from Minnesota Public Radio. 💙

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/27/the-41-best-books-mpr-news-staff-read-i...

Powell captures the frustrations, disappointments, and heartbreaks of the Brontë sisters well. Bleak, like Emily‘s moors.

Their poor father outliving his entire family. These types of accounts always make me better appreciate modern medicine, even with its flaws.

Speaking of bleak, is dreary wet March the new December? If so, I‘m not a fan.

The 26th of December is always a good day. Peace, quiet, no expectations, and good leftovers. 😄

After a much needed nap, it‘s time to start cooking & baking again. 😄

This book is likely to be a new favorite. First recipe is a tag for #Mtcookbook.

Happy Festivities to one and all!

IRL Bookclub - I have appropriately themed flags. 🧙🏾‍♀️

I‘ve been having great difficulty getting into this one. 🫤 I will feel like a heel if I bail so I‘m hoping it picks up.

It‘s lasagne time of year again! 😋

Unfortunately Jeff‘s scandal gives me pause every time I open the book. 😒

A Christmas novel? Not the kind you might expect or want, in fact it‘s the opposite. There are no warm & fuzzies here.
Instead it‘s a barely functioning gritty & damaged young woman struggling to find the courage to reinvent herself.

Now I feel a need to shower and clean my house. 😬

Fun little comedy, even if predicable. 🧔 Beards are a theme. 😉

Quick listen on YouTube with an excellent narrator. I just discovered his channel - “Bitesized Audio Classics.” https://youtu.be/gRRXJdoEfFo?si=vNJVK703Kzur6V0l

This edition is not going to work! It‘s an oversized book in terms of it‘s dimensions (wider & longer) and the print is minuscule. Each page is like a blur of ant prints. I‘m going to have to get the first of the tetraology as a stand-alone book.

@Ruthiella I may have to try the audio on YouTube. 😉 I just found Bill Nighy reading it! 👏🏾

I learned about logotherapy, which makes intuitive sense. Humorous anecdote about the client who had been in psychoanalysis for 5 years being told the root of his problem was the relationship with his father when in fact he just needed/wanted a change in career! 😆 One or two sessions with Frankl and done! I wish we could all have a Frankl in our lives.

A morality tale Rossner tells in riveting fashion! Loved it even more after watching this documentary. Highly recommend as a follow-up. https://youtu.be/IRN91TeXAYE?si=L5r0urNjlonFkqvH

⚠️Spoiler Warning!!! Do NOT watch the film unless you want to know the story before reading the book.

#PersephoneClub

This will be my next bedtime chunkster. I don‘t recommend this edition - the print is tiny, despite the beautiful cover! 😵‍💫

Devastating. 😢 A reminder there is serious work for the Americas to do with respect to racism against Indigenous peoples and the consequences stemming from colonialism. Heavy prices continue to be paid, even by the most vulnerable.

Eye opening in so many ways! 😲 I have mixed feelings about Bella and some of her decisions. Ultimately, they cost her dearly and the question is whether it was worth it.

The weird thing is no mention is made of whether & what Belle liked to read recreationally! It appears her real passion was collecting & organizing & preserving treasures.

My only quibble with the book is it‘s a bit long in the detail at times. #Europacollective

#Mtcookbook These kabobs were just okay - I did not star the recipe on my challenge list as something to make again. They need more pep!

This was a funish mystery, but it got a little too far fetched by the end. It‘s hard not to with magical realism.

Learn something new every day they say! Well, I‘ve been informed by my teens we celebrate what is commonly referred to as a “tacky Christmas.” 🤣

Definitely NOT in keeping with Morgan & Greene standards. Our decorations aren‘t matchy or themed. Wait, I guess the theme IS tacky.

Again the 💵 is simply astounding in this book. One shipment of collectibles alone was worth over $1B (BILLION). It was scheduled to come over on the Titanic. 😳

Natalie had fun writing this novel and I had fun listening to it! 😊 5🌟

Belle is about to offer 125k for Lord Amherst‘s Caxton collection of Didlington Hall. That‘s a cool $50M in today‘s dollars. That isn‘t even her total book buying budget! 😳 Can you imagine?

I did a small dive into Didlington Hall, Caxton Collection, & the Amherst swindle. #Europacollective

All the secrets! 👀 It had to have been not only exhilarating at times, but I would think emotionally exhausting most of the time.

Ticking off my #Mtcookbook recipe list, one by one!

Last night I made Ottolenghi‘s Crushed Lentils. Ful Medames is one of our favorite dishes and this one is basically a creamy version. 😋

Not including a photo of my bowl because it is not appealing at all! 😜 Hard to make mushy legumes attractive.

Isn‘t that the truth?!

Another ritual underway this morning - canning turkey broth. 🦃 Listening to Children of Jocasta. 🎧

I read the Natl. Center for Home Food Preservation didn‘t receive funding from 2015-2022 and only recently limited funding for fermented foods research. 😒 I‘d love more USDA tested canning recipes.

Enjoyable listen as an epilogue to the story begun in Moon of the Crusted Snow. This duology is not an action packed zombie type apocalyptic thriller, instead it is a description of a people reconnecting with the roots of their culture, one other, and nature “after the world goes dark.” I love how the collapse of civilization is largely a mystery and what few details emerge are fuzzy, but uncomfortably ordinary & and thus rather realistic.

Hmmmmm 🧐 I wonder if Belle would have swapped offices with me? This is only 1 room of a three room suite comprising the librarian‘s office at the Morgan library. #Europacollective

Since it‘s 12/1 (how how how?) I‘ve decided for the new year to make this my in-kitchen reread. As a collection of Fisher‘s books ranging from 1937-1949, it‘s perfect for dipping in & out. Her writing style is personable, wise, and all around delightful. I especially love the ingenuity forced by wartime shortages in How to Cook a Wolf, 1942. 🐺🍴